#thecosmosnews NASA Photographs One Of The Longest Asteroids Ever Found 1600-foot, oddly shaped asteroid as big as Empire State Building tracked down by NASA
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has captured a detailed view of an elongated asteroid over a couple of days. Here's what has been revealed.
magine this hurtling through space: Scientists have found an asteroid with dimensions similar to the Empire State Building.
This asteroid, which recently sped past Earth, has caught the attention of NASA astronomers for its bizarre long shape. The space rock — which has perhaps whizzed by to set the record straight that not all asteroids are vaguely ball-like — is more than three times as long as it is wide.
To get a sense of its scale, scientists have estimated the rock is about 1,600-by-500 feet, roughly comparable to that of the world-famous landmark that looms over 100 stories above New York.
"Of the 1,040 near-Earth objects observed by planetary radar to date, this is one of the most elongated we’ve seen," said Lance Benner, principal scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a statement.
Scientists at NASA have tracked down an asteroid with dimensions similar to the Empire State Building. The asteroid had recently sped past Earth and it has caught the attention of astronomers for its elongated shape. The oddly shaped asteroid called 2011 AG5, was closely tracked by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
The object is 1600 feet long and about 500 feet wide- dimensions comparable to the Empire State Building. The powerful 230-foot (70-meter) Goldstone Solar System Radar antenna dish at the Deep Space Network's facility near Barstow, California, revealed the dimensions of this extremely elongated asteroid, a press release by NASA said.
"Of the 1,040 near-Earth objects observed by planetary radar to date, this is one of the most elongated we've seen," said Lance Benner, principal scientist at JPL who helped lead the observations.
The asteroid 2011 AG5 sped past Earth at a distance of 1.1 million miles away on February 3. The astronomers analysed its size, rotations, surface and silhouette in detail since the object was discovered 12 years ago.
The image shows a collage of six pictures taken by the Goldstone Solar System Radar antenna dish in California. The astronomers made a few observations: It is as dark as charcoal when viewed by the human eye, it appears to be scooped on one side and is spinning around every nine hours.
